"Those who learn from their mistakes own the tools
of wisdom. Those who do the same thing over and
over and expect different results are just
stupid."

Okay, I did not vote for George Bush. Quite
frankly he scared the hell out of me. I am,
however, warming up to his moment of leadership but
concerned about the potentials that exist in the
direction of that leadership. The vision and
sincerity he has shown during this time of national
disaster is not only attractive but causal in the
support he has created almost universally. I give
him full credit for pulling the country together.
His responses are a result of his
communication.

I am warming also to the idea of compassionate
conservatism but find I am differing in my
definition of that phrase. For me it is not about
abortion, health care or Star Wars but about
people. It's about recognizing and accepting a
simple truth: that we are responsible for the world
we have created, good or bad. Years ago I was
taught that the responses we get to our actions are
a direct consequence of the messages we send, both
personally and governmentally. That is, in the
final analysis, no one can be responsible for our
results other than ourselves.

Terrorism of the sort we are now experiencing is
a result of how we have been in the world. We have
made our mistakes and denial might make us feel
better for the moment but it won't fix it. Now we
merely have to pay the price of those mistakes.
America has the opportunity now to change the
content of that message as perhaps never before.
The feedback we receive from the world will tell us
how successful we will be.

I would suggest that there are two possible wars
to be fought here. One it appears, unfortunately,
must be military in nature. But there is another
opportunity here also. Let's send two kinds of
bombs to Afghanistan and Iraq. First let's "bomb"
the daylights out of the population centers and
long lines of those poor people who really bear the
cost of war with tons of blankets, boots, cloth,
food, medical supplies, clean water, hay and feed
for the donkey's which are the main form of
transportation in that part of the world. Then, if
we must, do the highly targeted destruction of the
bases and training camps known to be terrorist
centers and destroy the infrastructure, munitions
and equipment necessary to make war.

Let us do the work of Allah, God, Jehovah,
Yahweh, Mohammed, Christ, Buddha, whoever serves up
the message of humanity to you...in case you
haven't noticed it's all the same message...and
send the bountiful riches we have created to those
who can truly use it. Let the world see a side of
America that we readily share with our fallen
brothers and sisters but all to often replace in
the world outside with bullying arrogance and
self-righteous self-interest. Let us respond to
militant terrorism with compassionate terrorism.
Let us truly turn darkness into light.

Or we can fall back on the "proven" methods of
the ages of retaliation and revenge and reap the
same results...more of the same. For once, let us
test the outrageous and radical idea that we can
learn from history. As I have heard a number of
times in the past few days, "an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth leaves us all blind and
toothless."

A permanent state of transition is man's most
noble condition. - Juan Ramon Jimenez

Ken Byers
holds a Ph.D. in psychology with an emphasis in
Men's Studies, one of the few ever awarded in the
U.S. Ken is a full time Certified Professional Life
Coach specializing in working with men in any form
of transition and an instructor of design at San
Francisco State University.